Did Syria Sink an Israeli Submarine?

A story out of Syria claiming it sunk a German built nuclear armed submarine operated by the government of Israel has not only been partially confirmed, but that a fully confirmed nuclear attack on Syria is now believed to have been Israeli retaliation for that sinking.

It is reported that the Israeli Dolphin submarine, a German built diesel/electric craft, was attacked and sunk by a Syrian Navy torpedo boat at 2:30 AM, May 2, 2013 while at a depth of 150 meters. Prior to the sinking, a ship operated by Germany’s intelligence services had been in the area.

After the reported, or should we say “unreported” sinking of the Israeli submarine and the equally “unreported” nuclear attack on Syria, a large contingent of Russian naval vessels moved into area.

Evidence is piling up, backing this scenario as one where Russia was forced to use its military capabilities to stabilize the region and defuse a wider conflict.

The video analysis of the nuclear attack, two days after the reported sinking, is conclusive.

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What had been in question was the “why?” There was no evidence that Syria had a target that would justify the risk of Israel using a nuclear weapon. Initial assumptions were that Syria may have had an underground nuclear facility but that proved to be groundless.

What drove Israel then?

Now we may well have the answer. The report came from Syrianews. This is the publication that reported the use of chemical weapons by rebel forces on March 19 near Aleppo. They have legitimate sources, certainly more than any mainstream media, and report in a serious and credible manner.

There are also broad confirmations that Israel has lost an F 16 during the conflict.

Nuclear Flash, Syria, May 4, 2013, Scale of Frame – 15 miles

This would be the second submarine Israel has lost. The former HMS Token, renamed the Dakar by Israel when it was given to them by Britain in 1967 “disappeared” with all hands. There has been broad speculation that the US Navy sunk the Dakar in retaliation for the Israeli attack that killed and wounded over 200 American sailors on the USS Liberty a year before. Israel now openly admits to attacking the Liberty, claiming that the United States was spying for Egypt during the 1967 Six Day War.

Sunk by the US Navy? The Israeli Submarine DAKAR, Lost with All Hands in 1968

Admissions openly made in Israel and taught to school children are carefully expunged from even the history taught at American war colleges.

POOR REPORTING

The media reporting on Syria has been the most abysmal of any conflict in recent years. Typically, unsubstantiated claims serving Israel are reported as fact with no sources whatsoever while video evidence of torture, mutilation and chemical weapon use on behalf of rebel forces is not only not broadcast but not commented on even when such evidence is taken to the UN.

Russian journalists who were on assignment in Syria have handed the United Nation Secretariat videos showing chemical weapons attacks allegedly committed by opposition fighters in the vicinity of Aleppo on March 19. This was confirmed by the spokesman for the Deputy Secretary General Farhan Haq.

He said that the information will be passed along to Oke Selstemu, the head of the group of experts investigating the possible use of weapons of mass destruction in Syria.

In late March, Damascus notified the UN Secretariat of the chemical attacks carried out by armed insurgents.

Groups working with Israel and Turkey are trained by western intelligence agencies and are by US standards classified as an “Al Qaeda affiliate.”

Nuclear weapon use, Israeli losses of a submarine and fighter aircraft are not reported, only Turkish losses (3 F-16s lost during bombing attacks on Syria, also lied about)

In the details we managed to get: the enemy object was detected and orders were given to one of the nearby boats to destroy it which they did with a torpedo (not told which type), then it was monitored sinking until landing on the seabed off the coast. A heavy movement of Syrian Army helicopters was observed over the site where the submarine was destroyed.

It’s not the first time Syrian Navy engage with enemy and hostile objects. At the very beginning of the Syrian crisis, the Syrian Navy spotted a German navy ship on a reconnaissance mission and harassed it away, a German minister then complained of the Syrian Navy acts claiming the ship was not spying, just listening and collecting information!

June 2, 2013 – TAIWAN – A strong earthquake jolted Taiwan on Sunday, killing one person and injuring at least 18 others and causing panicked shoppers to rush out of a shaking multi-story department store, officials said. Another earthquake jolted the southern Philippines late Saturday, injuring at least 33 people and damaging more than 140 houses. The tremor that hit Taiwan on Sunday afternoon was felt all over the island, but most severely in the central and southern regions. The magnitude-6.3 quake’s epicenter was near Jenai township in Nantou County in central Taiwan, about 250 kilometers (155 miles) south of Taipei, the Central Weather Bureau said. In Mountain Ali in the southern part of the island, a person was killed by a rockslide while driving a car on a mountain road, the Taiwan Fire Agency said in a statement. Rockslides at a scenic mountainous area near the epicenter injured several people, the agency said. In all, 18 people were injured by the earthquake, many by fallen objects. The Central Weather Bureau said the tremor had a relatively shallow depth of 10 kilometers (6 miles). The U.S. Geological Survey put the magnitude at 6.5. Shoppers screamed and ran out of a 12-story department store that shook violently for nearly a minute, TV stations reported from the central city of Taichung. Households elsewhere in central Taiwan reported cracks on the walls or ceilings falling, the reports said. Earthquakes frequently rattle Taiwan, but most are minor and cause little or no damage. Nantou is near the epicenter of a magnitude-7.6 earthquake that struck Taiwan in 1999 and killed more than 2,300 people. In the southern Philippines, a magnitude-5.7 earthquake rattled North Cotabato province and nearby areas late Saturday as people slept, damaging more than 140 houses and several school buildings and setting off a landslide that partially blocked a road with boulders, officials said. At least 33 people, including children, were injured by collapsed walls and falling debris in the hard-hit North Cotabato villages of Kimadzil and Kibugtongan, said Hermes Daquipa, a Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology official who joined a government team that surveyed the hilly villages. The quake, which was set off by the movement of a nearby fault, damaged the approaches to two bridges and concrete pipes that cut off water supply to the two villages. Some of the damaged school buildings will not be able to be used for Monday’s resumption of classes after a summer break for safety reasons, North Cotabato Governor Emmylou Tolentino-Mendoza said. Many residents remained jittery Sunday because of continuing aftershocks, said Mendoza, who added that she scrambled out of her home like other villagers when the ground started to shake and objects fell from shelves. “It’s a big relief that no motorist was passing through our highway when boulders rolled down from the mountainside,” she said. The Philippine archipelago is located in the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” where earthquakes and volcanic activity are common. A magnitude-7.7 quake killed nearly 2,000 people on the northern island of Luzon in 1990. –ABC News

June 2, 2013 – TURKEY – Protesters lit fires and scuffled with police in parts of Istanbul and Ankara early on Sunday, but the streets were generally quieter after two days of Turkey’s fiercest anti-government demonstrations for years. Hundreds of protesters set fires in the Tunali district of the capital Ankara, while riot police fired tear gas and pepper spray to hold back groups of stone-throwing youths near Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan’s office in Istanbul. Istanbul’s central Taksim Square, where the protests have been focused, was quieter after riot police pulled back their armored trucks late on Saturday. Demonstrators lit bonfires among overturned vehicles, broken glass and rocks and played cat-and-mouse on side streets with riot police, who fired occasional volleys of tear gas. The unrest was triggered by protests against government plans to build a replica Ottoman-era barracks to house shops or apartments in Taksim, long a venue for political protest. But it has widened into a broader show of defiance against Erdogan and his Islamist-rooted Justice and Development Party (AKP). Interior Minister Muammer Guler said on Saturday that 939 people had been arrested in more than 90 separate demonstrations around the country. More than 1,000 people have been injured in Istanbul and several hundred more in Ankara, according to medics. The ferocity of the police response has shocked Turks, as well as tourists caught up in the unrest in one of the world’s most visited destinations. It has drawn rebukes from the United States, European Union and international rights groups. Helicopters have fired tear gas canisters into residential neighborhoods and police have used tear gas to try to smoke people out of buildings. Footage on YouTube showed one protester being hit by an armored police truck as it charged a barricade. “All dictators use the same methods, oppressing their people,” said Mehmet Haspinar, a 60-year-old retired government employee sheltering in a building entrance way as riot police fired pepper spray in an Ankara back street. Erdogan has overseen a transformation in Turkey during his decade in power, turning its once crisis-prone economy into the fastest-growing in Europe. He remains by far the country’s most popular politician, but critics point to what they see as his authoritarianism and religiously conservative meddling in private lives in the secular republic. Some accuse him of behaving like a modern-day sultan. Tighter restrictions on alcohol sales and warnings against public displays of affection in recent weeks have provoked protests. Concern that government policy is allowing Turkey to be dragged into the conflict in neighboring Syria by the West has also led to peaceful demonstrations. “It’s about democracy, and it’s going to get bigger,” said one demonstrator in a side street off Taksim Square, trying to rinse tear gas from his eyes. Erdogan has called for an immediate end to the protests and has said his government will investigate claims that the police have used excessive force. But he remained defiant. “If this is about holding meetings, if this is a social movement, where they gather 20, I will get up and gather 200,000 people. Where they gather 100,000, I will bring together one million from my party,” he said in a televised speech. –Reuters

June 2, 2013 – MOSCOW - Russia plans to resume nuclear submarine patrols in the southern seas after a hiatus of more than 20 years following the break-up of the Soviet Union, Itar-Tass news agency reported on Saturday, in another example of efforts to revive Moscow’s military. The plan to send Borei-class submarines, designed to carry 16 long-range nuclear missiles, to the southern hemisphere follows President Vladimir Putin’s decision in March to deploy a naval unit in the Mediterranean Sea on a permanent basis starting this year. “The revival of nuclear submarine patrols will allow us to fulfill the tasks of strategic deterrence not only across the North Pole but also the South Pole,” state-run Itar-Tass cited an unnamed official in the military General Staff as saying. The official said the patrols would be phased in over several years. The Yuri Dolgoruky, the first of eight Borei-class submarines that Russia hopes to launch by 2020, entered service this year. Putin has stressed the importance of a strong and agile military since returning to the presidency last May. In 13 years in power, he has often cited external threats when talking of the need for a reliable armed forces and Russian political unity. Fears of a nuclear confrontation between Russia and the United States has eased in recent years, and the Cold War-era foes signed a landmark treaty in 2010 setting lower limits on the size of their long-range nuclear arsenals. But the limited numbers of warheads and delivery vehicles such as submarines that they committed to under the New START treaty are still enough to devastate the world. Putin has made clear Russia will continue to upgrade its arsenal. Russia’s land-launched Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs) would fly over the northern part of the globe, as would those fired from submarines in the northern hemisphere. Both the Borei-class submarines and the Bulava ballistic missiles they carry were designed in the 1990s, when the science and defense industries were severely underfunded. Russia sees the Bulava as the backbone of its future nuclear deterrence, but the program has been set back by several botched launches over the past few years. –Reuters

June 2, 2013 – ISRAEL - Iran could have enough launchers to send a salvo of medium range ballistic missiles that would overwhelm Israeli ballistic missile defense systems, according to a Wednesday report from IHS Jane’s. A May, 26 broadcast on Iranian television showcased a collection of transporter erector launchers (TELs) capable of launching the Iranian Shahab-3 guided ballistic missiles. “Iranian television footage showed at least 26 TELs lined up in two rows for the event, which marked their purported delivery to the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Aerospace Force, which operates the country’s ballistic missiles,” according to the report. The Shahab-3 is based on a North Korean design and is capable striking Israel from Iranian territory. “The delivery of such a large number of missile launchers demonstrates the Islamic Republic of Iran’s self-sufficiency in designing and building the strategic system and shows the Iranian Armed Forces’ massive firepower and their ability to give a crushing response to the enemy,” Defense Minister Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi said in a report carried by Iranian state news. The more missiles Iran can launch at once, “the greater its chances of overwhelming defensive systems, such as Israel’s Arrow, which only have a limited number of interceptors ready to launch at incoming targets,” according to the Jane’s report. Arrow is a joint U.S.-Israel BMD system which saw its first deployment in 2000. Despite the Iranian rhetoric, some U.S. analysts doubt Iran’s ability to overwhelm Israel’s defensive systems. “The Iranians are very good at telling themselves they have terrific and devastating technology which a cynic or skeptic like me may doubt,” naval analyst Norman Friedman told USNI News. It is a lot easier to multiply [launchers] than missiles.” The training and coordination to fire enough salvos to overwhelm a modern BMD system is substantial, former U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Tom Marfiak — the anti-air warfare commander during Desert Shield and Desert Storm — told USNI News. “Launching a single missile from a mobile TEL is a complex task for a trained crew. Much has to go right,” Marfiak said. Launching a number of missiles, nearly simultaneously, from multiple TEL’s, is a good deal more complicated than just lining them up for a parade.” –USNI News

June 1, 2013 – PHILIPPINES – The alert level on Mayon volcano in Albay has been raised to Level 1 after it started exhibiting abnormal behavior, a state agency said today. The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) said that in the past 36 hours, three weeks after phreatic explosion on May 7, fumes and crater glow were observed. “PHIVOLCS is raising the alert status of Mayon from Alert Level 0 to Alert Level 1 as a precaution to the public that the volcano is exhibiting abnormal behavior,” it said in a Bulletin issued as of 5:00 p.m. local time on Friday. With this, the agency is warning the public from entering the six-kilometer radius permanent danger zone due to perennial danger of life-threatening rockfalls, avalanches, ash puffs and sudden phreatic or steam-driven eruptions. Mayon’s alert level status may further change if significant changes in monitoring parameters occur, it said. PHIVOLCS also advised residents around the volcano to remain vigilant and to keep abreast of updates on Mayon’s condition through local and national officials. On May 7, Mayon’s phreatic explosion killed seven people, four of them foreigners, who were climbing the cone-like volcano. –Philstar

June 1, 2013 – ALASKA – In Alaska, scores of volcanoes and strange lava flows have escaped scrutiny for decades, shrouded by lush forests and hidden under bobbing coastlines. In the past three years, 12 new volcanoes have been discovered in Southeast Alaska, and 25 known volcanic vents and lava flows re-evaluated, thanks to dogged work by geologists with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the U.S. Forest Service. Sprinkled across hundreds of islands and fjords, most of the volcanic piles are tiny cones compared to the super-duper stratovolcanoes that parade off to the west, in the Aleutian Range. But the Southeast’s volcanoes are in a class by themselves, the researchers found. A chemical signature in the lava flows links them to a massive volcanic field in Canada. Unusual patterns in the lava also point to eruptions under, over and alongside glaciers, which could help scientists pinpoint the size of Alaska’s mountain glaciers during past climate swings. Now comes the CSI twist. All of these newly tested lavas in Alaska are kissing cousins to volcanoes in Canada, such as Mount Edziza, which last erupted about 10,000 years ago. The connection makes perfect sense, Karl said. “I’m actually surprised no one has hypothesized it before,” she said. “It made total sense that this volcanic province would extend across Southeast Alaska, and now I have the data to show that’s the case.” Little known outside of Canada, Mount Edziza is part of the Northern Cordilleran Volcanic Province, a broad swath of volcanoes and hot springs some 1,250 miles (2,000 km) long and about 375 miles (600 km) wide. Karl’s big picture meets approval with scientists studying Canada’s volcanoes. “I knew there were volcanic structures to the west in Alaska, but I didn’t know they were nearly [this] extensive,” said Ben Edwards, a volcanologist at Dickinson College in Pennsylvania, who is not involved in the project but has visited the new volcanoes with Karl and Baichtal. “They have really found a lot more places than we realized, but there’s certainly no reason for them not to be there. It makes a lot of sense.” The tortured history of this corner of North America, a legacy of collision between the North America and Pacific tectonic plates, created a meshwork of leaky faults and fractures. Magma escapes from Earth’s mantle through this patchwork when forces pull on the crust, opening space. The matching chemistry also hints that magma in both regions comes from a similar mantle source. While the volcanoes in Canada and Alaska have erupted for more than 10 million years, emerging data suggests that the last 3 million years of glaciers growing and retreating in Alaska and British Columbia also prompted many small volcanoes to erupt, because the changing ice mass flexed the Earth. This activated the fractures and made room for more magma to rise. The most recent eruption in both countries was at the Blue River lava flow in Lava Fork, which crossed the Alaska-Canada border 120 years ago, according to new dating work by Karl and her colleagues. “Even though, theoretically, a volcano that erupted 120 years ago is an active volcano, but because it’s so remote there isn’t any real concern about it,” Karl said. However, an eruption in 1775 killed a village of First Nations people in Canada, though scientists aren’t sure why. Lava didn’t reach the town, and some researchers suspect gas from the volcano may have suffocated residents. Karl notes that an earthquake on the Fairweather Fault, a major offshore strike-slip fault, presents a greater risk than a volcanic eruption. “If something is rumbling and bubbling we have so much more technology to become aware of it before it’s a hazard, we can’t predict exactly when the Fairweather Fault is going to go, and that’s a much larger hazard,” she said

The True story of how an antiquated Russian Project 667 a "Yankee" Class Submarine, K-219 collides with a Hunter Killer "Los Angeles" Class American submarine causing a leakage in the K-219's missile bays, almost leading to nuclear meltdown in it's reactors off the shores of Bermuda.

He said he cannot predict when the retaliation will be, saying it is up to relevant authorities to prepare for it.

In Iran, the semi-official Fars news agency quoted Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian today as saying the raid on Syria will have significant implications for the Israeli city of Tel Aviv.

The Syrian military denied the existence of any such shipment and said a scientific research facility outside Damascus was hit.

The attack adds a potentially flammable new element to tensions already heightened by Syria's civil war.It was the latest salvo in Israel's long-running effort to disrupt the Shiite militia's quest to build an arsenal capable of defending against Israel's air force and spreading destruction inside the Jewish state.

Regional security officials said the strike, which occurred overnight Tuesday, targeted a site near the Lebanese border, while a Syrian army statement said it destroyed a military research center northwest of the capital, Damascus.

They appeared to be referring to the same incident.

A Russian SA-17. It is described as a 'game-changer' that could shoot down Israel's air forces.

U.S. officials said the target was a truck convoy that Israel believed was carrying sophisticated anti-aircraft weapons bound for Hezbollah in Lebanon.

They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak about the operation.

Regional officials said the shipment included sophisticated Russian-made SA-17 anti-aircraft missiles, which if acquired by Hezbollah would be 'game-changing', enabling the militants to shoot down Israeli jets, helicopters and surveillance drones.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media.

In a statement, the Syrian military denied the existence of any such shipment and said a scientific research facility outside Damascus was hit by the Israeli warplanes.

Anger: Both Syria and Russia condemned the airstrike. Syrian media called it a 'terrorist attack'

The Israeli military declined to comment. However, many in Israel worry that as Syrian President Bashar Assad loses power, he could strike back by transferring chemical or advanced weapons to Hezbollah, which is neighboring Lebanon's most powerful military force and is committed to Israel's destruction.

Russia has expressed concern at an alleged Israeli attack on Syria, saying such a strike would be an unacceptable violation of the UN Charter.

Russia has steadfastly refused to denounce Syrian President Bashar al-Assad during the 22-month conflict that has killed more than 60,000 people.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said: 'If this information is confirmed, then we are dealing with unprovoked attacks on targets on the territory of a sovereign country, which blatantly violates the UN Charter and is unacceptable, no matter the motives to justify it.'

Fear: A Free Syrian Army fighter drags his comrade who was shot by sniper fire during heavy fighting in the Ain Tarma neighbourhood of Damascus yesterday

The fighter on the right died soon after being shot. He joins an estimated 60,000 who have lost their lives during the Syrian civil war

The airstrike follows decades of enmity between Israel and allies Syria and Hezbollah, which consider the Jewish state their mortal enemy. The situation has been further complicated by the civil war raging in Syria between the Assad regime and rebel brigades seeking his ouster.

The war has sapped Assad's power and threatens to deprive Hezbollah of a key supporter, in addition to its land corridor to Iran. The two countries provide Hezbollah with the bulk of its funding and arms.

A Syrian military statement read aloud on state TV Wednesday said low-flying Israeli jets crossed into Syria over the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and bombed a military research center in the area of Jamraya, northwest of Damascus.

The strike destroyed the center and damaged a nearby building, killing two workers and wounding five others, the statement said.

The military denied the existence of any convoy bound for Lebanon, saying the center was responsible for 'raising the level of resistance and self-defense' of Syria's military.

Damascus has seen some of the heaviest fighting of the war. Rebels are fighting to oust the Bashad regime

Russia has refused to condemn the actions of government forces led by Bashar al-Assad

'This proves that Israel is the instigator, beneficiary and sometimes executor of the terrorist acts targeting Syria and its people,' the statement said.

Israel and Hezbollah fought an inconclusive 34-day war in 2006 that left 1,200 Lebanese and 160 Israelis dead.

While the border has been largely quiet since, the struggle has taken other forms. Hezbollah has accused Israel of assassinating a top commander, and Israel blamed Hezbollah and Iran for a July 2012 attack on Israeli tourists in Bulgaria.

In October, Hezbollah launched an Iranian-made reconnaissance drone over Israel, using the incident to brag about its expanding capabilities.

Israeli officials believe that Hezbollah's arsenal has markedly improved since 2006, now boasting tens of thousands of rockets and missiles and the ability to strike almost anywhere inside Israel.

Israel suspects that Damascus obtained a battery of SA-17s from Russia after an alleged Israeli airstrike in 2007 that destroyed an unfinished Syrian nuclear reactor.

Carnage: Buildings damaged by what activists said were missiles fired by a Syrian Air Force fighter jet loyal to President Bashar al-Assad earlier this month

Earlier this week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned of the dangers of Syria's 'deadly weapons,' saying the country is 'increasingly coming apart.'

The same day, Israel moved a battery of its new 'Iron Dome' rocket defense system to the northern city of Haifa, which was battered by Hezbollah rocket fire in the 2006 war. The Israeli army called that move 'routine'.

Syria, however, cast the airstrike in a different light, linked to the country's civil war, which it blames on terrorists carrying out an international conspiracy.

Despite its icy relations with Assad, Israel has remained on the sidelines of efforts to topple him, while keeping up defenses against possible attacks.

Syrians gather around the bodies of civilians, who were executed and dumped in the Quweiq river in Aleppo yesterday. Syria's opposition charged that 'global inaction' was giving Bashar al-Assad's regime a license to kill

Israeli defense officials have carefully monitored Syria's chemical weapons, fearing Assad could deploy them or lose control of them to extremist fighters among the rebels.

President Barack Obama has called the use of chemical weapons a 'red line' that if crossed could prompt direct U.S. intervention, though U.S. officials have said Syria's stockpiles still appear to be under government control.

The strike was Israel's first inside Syria since September 2007, when warplanes destroyed a site that the U.N. nuclear watchdog deemed likely to be a nuclear reactor. Syria denied the claim, saying the building was a non-nuclear military site.

A rebel fighter stands in front of a building after they took over the village of Aljanodiya following fighting against pro-Syrian regime forces, yesterday

Syria allowed international inspectors to visit the bombed site in 2008, but it has refused to allow nuclear inspectors new access.

This has heightened suspicions that Syria has something to hide, along with its decision to level the destroyed structure and build on its site.

In 2006, Israeli warplanes flew over Assad's palace in a show of force after Syrian-backed militants captured an Israeli soldier in the Gaza Strip.

And in 2003, Israeli warplanes attacked a suspected militant training camp just north of the Syrian capital, in response to an Islamic Jihad suicide bombing in the city of Haifa that killed 21 Israelis.Syria vowed to retaliate for both attacks but never did.

In Lebanon, which borders both Israel and Syria, the military and the U.N. agency tasked with monitoring the border with Israel said Israeli warplanes have sharply increased their activity in the past week.

Israeli violations of Lebanese airspace are not uncommon, and it was unclear if the recent activity was related to the strike in Syria.

Syria's primary conflict with Israel is over the Golan Heights, which Israeli occupied in the 1967 war. Syria demands the area back as part of any peace deal.

Despite the hostility, Syria has kept the border quiet since the 1973 Mideast war and has never retaliated for Israeli attacks.

In May 2011, only two months after the uprising against Assad started, hundreds of Palestinians overran the tightly controlled Syria-Israeli frontier in a move widely thought to have been facilitated by the Assad regime to divert the world's gaze from his growing troubles at home.

Coincidence? This is the second major earthquake to strike close to a region, when military tensions were high and U.S. military forces were conducting multinational exercises nearby. On April 5, a 6.2 magnitude earthquake struck near the border area between Russia, China and North Korea, when tensions were running high between Pyongyang and Washington. The 6.2 quake (downgraded by USGS) which struck Iran, near the Middle East stress choke-point of the Strait of Hormuz, comes at a time when 41 nations are conducting naval exercises in the Strait. Will anyone finally get the message that starting a major war, involving potential weapons of mass destruction, could result in something worst than a war? In Revelation 11:18, God said He would destroy those that destroy the earth.

May 8, 2013 – MIDDLE EAST – Trends researcher Gerald Celente predicts war in the Middle East. He says, “It is out of control. What are people waiting for–an Archduke Ferdinand moment?” Celente thinks Israel bombing Syria means World War 3 is on its way. The cycle leading to war started with the crash of 2008. Celente says, “Crash, depression, currency wars . . .trade wars and then real wars. That’s what we’re seeing again.” Celente charges, “This is a proxy war against Iran because when Syria is choked off, then Iran is left alone surrounded by enemies. So, that’s what we’re really looking at. The end game is Iran.” What would happen if Iran and Israel went to war? Would the Strait of Hormuz close, gasoline explode to $10 a gallon, markets implode? Celente says, “All of the above.” Join Greg Hunter as he goes One-on-One with Gerald Celente, Publisher of the Trends Journal.

Threat: Officials are poised to evacuate thousands of people living in the shadow of the Popocatepetl Volcano in Mexico, which has been spewing ash in recent days

'Increased activity': The National Center for Disaster Prevention has elevated its warning level to Yellow Stage 3 - the fifth rung on a seven stage scale - after the Mexican volcano began spewing lava, ash and gases

Authorities have alerted town in two central states as well as the capital, after Mexico's National Disaster Prevention Center elevated its alert level to Yellow Phase 3 - the fifth rung on a seven-stage warning scale. Should the alert level rise thousands of people could be evacuated from the most vulnerable villages in the shadow of the peak. Shelters have been set up in case authorities are forced to evacuate residents.

A seven-square-mile exclusion zone has been imposed around the cone of the volcano, and soldiers and federal police have been deployed to the area amid fears of further, more violent eruptions from Popo.

Popocatepetl is an Aztec word meaning 'Smoking Mountain'. Popo lay dormant for decades until it began putting out small eruptions of ash almost daily in 1994. These eruptions started strengthening two weeks ago and have increased even more this weekend.

May 7, 2013 – ISRAEL – Syria has stationed missile batteries aimed at Israel in the aftermath of alleged Israeli air strikes in the country, the website of Lebanon’s Al Mayadeen TV, considered close to the regime of President Bashar Assad, quoted a top Syrian official as saying on Sunday. The report came as Syrian Information Minister Omran Zoabi said on Sunday that alleged Israeli air strikes against three targets on the outskirts of Damascus “open the door to all possibilities.” The minister’s comments at a press conference came after an emergency cabinet meeting organized to respond to what a Western source said was a new strike on Iranian missiles bound for Lebanon’s Hezbollah. Although Zoabi did not hint at a concrete course of action, he said it was Damascus’s duty to protect the state from any “domestic or foreign attack through all available means.” Sunday’s attack is the third reported Israeli assault this year on Syrian soil. Previous strikes on Syria allegedly carried out by Israel have not elicited a military response from Syria or its allies Iran and Lebanon’s Hezbollah. Israel declined to confirm the strike so as not to pressure Assad into serious retaliation, according to a confidant of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. Earlier on Sunday, Syria’s Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal al Mekdad told CNN that Israel’s air strikes in the country were interpreted as an Israeli “declaration of war” on the Assad regime. In an interview with CNN, Faisal said that Syria would respond in a manner of its own time and choosing. Syria’s state television said the strikes were a response to recent military gains by Assad’s forces against rebels. “The new Israeli attack is an attempt to raise the morale of the terrorist groups which have been reeling from strikes by our noble army,” it said. Meanwhile, the IDF has deployed two Iron Dome batteries to northern cities due to regional tensions following air strikes in Damascus which Western sources have attributed to the Israel Air Force. -Jerusalem Post

May 6, 2013 – SYRIA - Concern over the possibility of broader war in the Middle East grew Monday in the wake of reported airstrikes on Syrian military installations. The reported strikes killed 42 Syrian soldiers, the opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Monday, citing medical sources. It said 100 people remained missing. The Syrian government warned Sunday’s apparent strikes — which followed one last week attributed by Syria to Israel – “opens the door wide for all the possibilities.” Syrian ally Iran warned of a “crushing response” while Russia called reports of Israeli involvement “very worrying.” But an Israeli general who commands forces on the Syrian border said “there are no winds of war,” according to the Israel Defense Forces website. The heightened tensions come amid questions over possible chemical weapon use in Syria and international debate over how to respond to the country’s bloody civil war, in which more than 70,000 people have died in more than two years of fighting. On Monday, a U.N. official spoke of strong suspicions that rebels, not Syrian government forces, have used chemical weapons. Syria claimed Israeli missiles struck at its military facilities on Sunday. According to the state-run SANA news agency, Israeli missiles struck a research center in Jamayra, a facility in Maysaloun and what the news agency described as a “paragliding airport” near Damascus. The blasts prompted terrified residents nearby to run for cover. “Everything kept exploding over and over again,” said Anna Deeb, whose family lives just over a mile away. “We could hear gunshots, we could hear people screaming. … We didn’t know what to do, and there was a problem with us breathing because the smoke was too much.” Syria says the attack followed another Israeli airstrike late last week. Israel has not confirmed or denied that its forces were involved in any attacks inside Syria, but a U.S. official told CNN’s Barbara Starr on Monday that Israeli forces conducted Sunday’s strike, as well as one last week. Sunday’s strike targeted a research facility in a mountainous area near Damascus and weapons that were to be transferred to Hezbollah, according to the source. The earlier strike, which U.S. officials had previously said happened Thursday or Friday, targeted Fateh 110 missiles stored at the Damascus airport, the source said. -CNN

May 6, 2013 – SYRIA – A series of massive explosions illuminated the dark sky over Damascus early Sunday, igniting renewed claims that Israel has launched attacks into the war-torn country. Syria’s government said the explosions were the second Israeli airstrike in three days. The latest target, officials said, was a military research facility outside the Syrian capital. A top Syrian official told CNN in an exclusive interview that the attack was a “declaration of war” by Israel. Syrian authorities vowed to retaliate against Israel but did not specify what action they would take. The Israeli military would not confirm or deny the Syrian claim that Israel fired rockets that hit the Jamraya research center in the Damascus suburbs. “We do not comment on these reports at all,” an Israeli military representative said. United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed “grave concern” over the reports of Israeli airstrikes in Syria Sunday but stressed that the U.N. is not “in a position to independently verify what has occurred,” his spokesman said. Sunday’s explosions mark the third time Israel has been accused of striking inside Syria this year. The blasts rocked a large military area in the suburbs of Syria’s capital, prompting terrified residents nearby to run for cover. “Everything kept exploding over and over again,” said Anna Deeb, whose family lives just over a mile away. “We could hear gunshots, we could hear people screaming. … We didn’t know what to do, and there was a problem with us breathing because the smoke was too much.” Syrian state-run TV claimed that the Israeli rocket attack on the research center aided rebels, who have been battling government forces in the region. And the government’s Syrian Arab News Agency said mortar shells “fired by terrorists” damaged residential neighborhoods nearby. But state media reports did not provide details about what type of research occurs in the facility, or how much damage occurred there after Sunday’s attack. Even with details about the explosion unclear, tensions ran high in the volatile region Sunday amid word of the reported attack, which was condemned by some officials across the Middle East. In an exclusive interview with CNN, Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal al Mekdad said the attack represented an alliance between Islamic terrorists and Israel. “When they attack, this is a declaration of war. This is not something that is (new),” al Mekdad said. “We dealt with this on several occasions, and we retaliated the way we wanted, and the retaliation was always painful to Israel, and they will suffer again.” After an emergency meeting of Syria’s Cabinet on Sunday, Syrian Information Minister Omran al-Zoubi said on state television that the attack””opens the door wide open for all possibilities” but did not specify what those possibilities would be. Arab League Secretary-General Nabil Elaraby condemned what he called Israeli strikes on Syrian territories and called for the United Nations Security Council to “move immediately in order to stop and prevent Israeli attacks on Syria.” Foreign ministers in Egypt and Iran also condemned the reported Israeli attack. Ban’s spokesman said the U.N. secretary-general “calls on all sides to exercise maximum calm and restraint, and to act with a sense of responsibility to prevent an escalation of what is already a devastating and highly dangerous conflict.” Amid the heightened tensions, Israel appeared to be stepping up defense efforts. An Israeli Army official told CNN that two rocket interception batteries have been deployed to northern Israel. And the Israeli Airport Authority said Sunday that it had closed northern airspace over the country to civil aviation flights

Lava shoots hundreds of feet into the air above erupting volcano in Alaska... as budget cuts force observation stations in the region to close

A remote Alaskan volcano continues to erupt, spewing lava and ash clouds - highlighting concerns over the closure of geological observation centers in the area.

The Alaska Volcano Observatory said a continuous cloud of ash, steam and gas from Pavlof Volcano has been seen 20,000 feet above sea level.

John Power, the U.S. Geological Survey scientist in charge at the observatory, estimates the lava fountain rose several hundred feet into the air.

Seismic instruments are picking up constant tremors from the eruption at Pavlof, located about 625 miles (1,000 kilometers) southwest of Anchorage.

Residents of Cold Bay, 37 miles (60 kilometers) away, have reported seeing a glow from the summit.

Pavlof is among the most active volcanoes in the Aleutian arc, with nearly 40 known eruptions, according to the observatory. It comes as scientists monitoring Alaska's volcanoes are forced to shut down stations that provide real-time tracking of eruptions and forgo repairs of seismic equipment amid ongoing federal budget cuts - moves that could mean delays in getting vital information to airline pilots and emergency planners.

The Alaska Volcano Observatory can no longer seismically monitor five volcanoes with real-time equipment to detect imminent eruptions.

Such equipment is especially important in helping pilots receive up-to-the-minute warnings about spewing ash that can cause engine failures and other problems.

Under threat: Some Alaskan volcano observation units have had to be closed due to federal budget cuts. They often warn aircraft in the area of any possible dangerous ash clouds

Alaska has 52 active volcanoes, with many of them located on the Aleutians Islands along international air routes between Europe, North America and Asia.

A 3,00KM MOUNTAIN RANGE THAT IS CAPABLE OF ERUPTING AT ANY TIME

Pavlof Volcano is one of several dozen volcanoes that make up the Aleutian Arc.

The arc stretches across the Alaskan Peninsula in the south-west of Alaska to north-eastern Siberia, 3,000km away.

It follows the line where the pacific tectonic plate meets the North American plate.

Alaska Airlines officials said the observatory, funded by the U.S. Geological Survey, provides a crucial service, including early warnings of seismic changes that may portend an impending eruption.

Monitors need to be operating all the time, not just during major eruptions, said Betty Bollert, an Alaska Airlines dispatcher.

'I think the public gets kind of complacent when nothing exciting is happening and think, "Oh, why should we throw money at that?"' said Bollert, who was on duty in 1989 when the Redoubt Volcano blew 115 miles from Anchorage.

Following that eruption, several aircraft experienced damage from ash - including a Boeing 747-400 carrying 231 passengers that lost all four engines after flying into an ash cloud.

The plane dropped more than two miles in five minutes before the crew was able to restart the engines and land safely in Anchorage.

Worldwide, hundreds of flights are diverted each year because of volcanic activity. In 2010, an eruption in Iceland spread debris over Northern Europe, threatening most flight routes from the East Coast to Europe, and within Europe itself.

Early warning: The steam and the fresh lava flow could be seen on the north side of the volcano on Monday

Volcano: Pavlof is the second Alaska volcano to erupt this month. The Alaska volcano monitoring system, first created in 1988, is intended to help pilots avoid such problems.

But it has regressed over the past few years because of shrinking finances, and now the across-the-board spending cuts known as sequestration are further squeezing operations.

For example, gone is a plan to install seismic monitors at Cleveland Volcano, a remote mountain on an uninhabited island in the Aleutians.

The volcano experienced a low-level eruption earlier this month that continues to discharge steam, gas and heat, although no ash clouds have been detected in the past week.

'Because our budget has been declining for so long, we have no hope of actually addressing the Cleveland eruption in the way that it really should be,' said geophysicist John Power, the USGS scientist in charge at the Alaska Volcano Observatory.

Pavlof Volcano, 625 miles from Anchorage, does have seismic instruments, which picked up tremors signaling a possible eruption. Satellite imagery also showed a lot of heat in the mountain.

Cloud: The volcano continued to pump out gas and steam on Tuesday - with the eruption still continuing Friday

In Alaska, 32 volcanoes once had 200 working seismic instruments. Now 80 of those instruments have fallen into disrepair and can't be fixed due to the USGS budget cuts.

That means five of those volcanoes aren't monitored electronically at all, and the number could rise if more instruments go without maintenance.

Cuts also have reduced the number of days helicopter crews can fly to repair equipment in remote locations, from 140 days in 2008 to 36.

The observatory still uses satellite data, infrasound and reports from pilots and others to detect eruptions. But none of those offer real-time information.

Sound waves were picked up the Cleveland eruption, but it took 40 minutes for the data to reach scientists in Anchorage, 940 miles northeast of the volcano.

These days, the observatory is operating on $4million annually, roughly half of its heyday budget.

Four other observatories in the U.S. - in Wyoming, California, Washington and Hawaii - also have faced cuts, leading to a reduction in lab research, studies of eruption histories and lava survey flights.

In Hawaii, lava flyovers of the Big Island's Kilauea volcano were reduced from once a week to once every two weeks.

It's still early in the federal downsizing process, and resources already are spread thin, said Tom Murray, chief of the five USGS observatories.

And while these types of cuts may not be immediately felt by the public - unlike the furloughs of air traffic controllers that caused flight delays nationwide - they are just as damaging, he said.

'The challenges with what we do is that it doesn't happen all the time,' he said. 'But when it does happen, then the ramifications can be very large.'

May 17, 2013 – OREGON – The Cascadia Subduction Zone runs along the Pacific Northwest coast of the United States to Vancouver Island in Canada. This major fault line is capable of producing megathrust earthquakes 9.0 or higher, though, due to a dearth of observations or historical records, this trait was only discovered within the last several decades from geology records. The 1700 Cascadia event was better documented in Japan than in the Americas. Records of the “orphan tsunami”—so named because its “parent” earthquake was too far away to be felt—gave earth scientists hints that this subduction zone was capable of such massive seismic activity. Geological studies provided information about the earthquake, but many critical details remained lost to history. “Previous research had determined the timing and the magnitude, but what we didn’t know was how the rupture happened,” says Benjamin Horton, associate professor and director of the Sea Level Research Laboratory in the department of earth and environmental science at the University of Pennsylvania. “Did it rupture in one big long segment, more than a thousand kilometers, or did it rupture in parcels?” To provide a clearer picture of how the earthquake occurred, Horton and his colleagues applied a technique they have used in assessing historic sea-level rise. The team traveled to various sites along the Cascadia subduction zone, taking core samples from up and down the coast and working with local researchers who donated pre-existing data sets. The researchers’ targets were microscopic fossils known as foraminifera. Through radiocarbon dating and an analysis of different species’ positions with the cores over time, the researchers were able to piece together a historical picture of the changes in land and sea level along the coastline. The research revealed how much the coast suddenly subsided during the earthquake, which infers how much the tectonic plates moved during the earthquake. “What we were able to show for the first time is that the rupture of Cascadia was heterogeneous, making it similar to what happened with the recent major earthquakes in Japan, Chile, and Sumatra,” Horton says. This level of regional detail for land level changes is critical for modeling and disaster planning. “It’s only when you have that data that you can start to build accurate models of earthquake ruptures and tsunami inundation,” Horton says. “There were areas of the west coast of the United States that were more susceptible to larger coastal subsidence than others.” The Cascadia subduction zone is of particular interest to geologists and coastal managers because geological evidence points to recurring seismic activity along the fault line, with intervals between 300 and 500 years. With the last major event occurring in 1700, another earthquake could be on the horizon. A better understanding of how such an event might unfold has the potential to save lives. “The next Cascadia earthquake has the potential to be the biggest natural disaster that the Unites States will have to come to terms with—far bigger than Sandy or even Katrina,” Horton says. “It would happen with very little warning; some areas of Oregon will have less than 20 minutes to evacuate before a large tsunami will inundate the coastline like in Sumatra in 2004 and Japan in 2011.” The National Science Foundation, the United States Geological Survey, and the University of Victoria funded the research.

May 7, 2013 – PHILIPPINES - One of the Philippines’ most active volcanoes spewed huge rocks and ash after daybreak Tuesday, killing at least five climbers and trapping more than a dozen others near the crater in its first eruption in three years, officials said. Rescue teams and helicopters were sent to Mayon volcano in the central Philippines to bring out the dead. At least seven were injured from a group of about 20 mountaineers who were caught by surprise by the sudden eruption, Albay provincial Gov. Joey Salceda said. Clouds have cleared over the volcano, which was quiet later in the morning. The climbers who died were struck by huge rocks, guide Kenneth Jesalva told ABS-CBN TV network by cell phone from a camp near the crater. They included a German, an Austrian and a Filipino. The injured included foreigners and Filipino guides. Some were in critical condition, said the chief of the national disaster agency, Eduardo del Rosario. Jesalva said he was in the group that spent the night on the picturesque mountain, known for its almost-perfect cone, when the volcano rumbled back to life early in the morning and rocks “as big as a living room” came raining down on them. He rushed back to the base camp to call for help. The head of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, Renato Solidum, said Tuesday’s eruption was normal for the restive Mayon, about 340 kilometers (212 miles) southeast of Manila. It has erupted about 40 times during the last 400 years. In 2010, thousands of residents moved to temporary shelters when the volcano ejected ash in an 8-kilometer (5-mile) zone surrounding the crater. Solidum said that no alert was raised for the volcano following the latest eruption and no evacuation was being planned. Climbers are not allowed when an alert is up, and the recent calm may have encouraged this week’s trek. –Yahoo News

Indonesia’s Lokon erupts: Another explosion occurred yesterday evening. It was heard in up to 6 km distance and incandescent bombs were ejected to 200 m distance from the Tompaluan crater. The eruption was preceded by an increase in seismic activity starting Saturday night, the local volcano observatory reported. An exclusion zone of 2.5 km radius from the volcano remains in place. –Volcano Discovery

Another Indonesian volcano awakening: Increased seismic activity was detected at the Papandayan volcano and VSI raised the alert level to 3 out of 4 (“Siaga, warning”) yesterday. Sudden phreatic explosions could occur with little warning at the volcano and present a significant hazard to visitors to the crater, which is a popular tourist site due to its varied, intense hydrothermal activity and colorful active fumaroles. The volcano last erupted in 2002. –Volcano Discovery5.8 magnitude earthquake strikes Fiji: A 5.8 magnitude earthquake violently struck the Fiji Islands within the last hour. The U.S. Geological Survey reports that 5.8 shake was 239km NNE of Ceva-i-Ra, Fiji and hit at approximately 10:10:55 UTC. According to the U.S.-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, a destructive tsunami was not generated, based on earthquake and historical tsunami data. This is the first quake to hit the Fiji Islands since a 5.5 tremor was recorded on April 19, 2013. Though it was a strong earthquake reports suggest it was a safe distance from Suva, Fiji. A statement from the Mineral Resources Department’s Seismology Section explained that it was a medium-sized magnitude earthquake. The department said there was no felt report from the nearby places since the event source was very deep. In the past year, the Fiji Islands region has been hit with 112 earthquakes.

Alaska’s Pavlof Volcano, during its famed 2007 eruption. Activity at the volcano appears to be increasing once again.

May 16, 2013 – ALASKA – Eruptions from Pavlof Volcano continued on Wednesday after rumbling to life earlier in the week. The 8,261-foot peak on the Alaska Peninsula awoke Monday morning, kicking off a “low-level eruption of lava,” according to the Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO). Sitting about 30 miles northeast of the community of King Cove, Pavlof is a frequently-active volcano that last erupted in 2007. The volcano’s rumbling has strengthened this week. At about noon Tuesday, satellite images showed a lava flow had coursed a third of a mile down the northern side of the volcano. By late Tuesday, an ash plume extended 15,000 feet above sea level, moving downwind to the northeast for up to 100 miles before dispersing. The National Weather Service issued a “Significant Meterological Event” warning, called a SIGMET, to alert pilots of hazardous conditions in the area. Pavlof continued to rumble Wednesday, with one pilot reporting a dark ash cloud reaching 20,000 feet. Residents of Cold Bay, located 37 miles southwest of the volcano, observed incandescent glow at the summit during the night. Pilot reports and photographs from yesterday afternoon indicate that the lava flow extending down the northwest flank is still active and has generated debris-laden flow deposits, presumably from interaction of hot lava with the snow and ice on the flank. Reports of possible eruptions from Pavlov date back to 1762, when historical accounts suggested an eruption in the area, though that activity may also have come from Pavlof Sister, another eruptive peak very close by. The most recent eruption at Pavlof, in 2007, featured spitting lava and small ash clouds during a month-long stretch of heightened activity. Unlike Mount Cleveland — a remote volcano located on a small Aleutian island and the only other volcano exhibiting activity in the Last Frontier at the moment — there is an extensive monitoring system set up at Pavlof due to its location and how often it’s active, including a webcam set up at Cold Bay. Meanwhile, Cleveland remains on orange alert following an ash explosion May 6. No further explosions have been recorded since then, but satellites still show elevated surface temperatures. –Alaska Dispatch

May 15, 2013 – GEOLOGY – A flurry of earthquakes continues across the planet over the past 72 hours, showing few signs of abatement. Seismic tension continues to build across the Pacific Plate, the Cocos plate (Central America), and the Nazca plate, near South America. Tectonic plate agitation appears to be increasing, along with volcanic pressures under many of the world’s major volcanoes. -TEP

55th volcano erupts in Alaska: Scientists say small lava flows have been detected on two restless volcanoes in Alaska. The Alaska Volcano Observatory says satellite images Tuesday show the lava partly down a flank of Pavlof Volcano in a low-level eruption 625 miles southwest of Anchorage. Geophysicist Dave Schneider says minor steam and ash emissions are visible from the community of Cold Bay 37 miles away. Pavlof is the second Alaska volcano to erupt this month. Cleveland Volcano, on an uninhabited island in the Aleutian Islands, experienced a low-level eruption in early May. The observatory says analysis of satellite imagery shows a lava flow partly down a flank of the volcano. Ash plumes can be an aviation hazard, but no ash clouds have been detected from Cleveland Volcano in the past week.

May 15, 2013 – ALASKA - U.S. Forest Service Geologist Jim Baichtal, who is based on Prince of Wales Island, and Anchorage geologist Sue Karl were looking at some hydrographic surveys, something geologists tend to do. When we were done, I noticed the area from Thorne Arm to Rudyerd had been surveyed,” Baichtal said. “I zoomed in and there was this large… some kind of volcano, and two other dome-like structures.” Karl added that, “This new NOAA survey allowed us to see things that people had never seen before.” Karl said a modern example of a similar eruption is Surtsey, a volcanic island in Iceland, which erupted from the sea floor in the 1960s, building itself up and eventually breaching the surface to form the island. Karl points out that when the newly discovered volcano erupted, sea levels also were lower than they are now, but even with that, “We still have too much depth. We have to call on glacial loading and rebound.” “When you get a thousand feet of ice sitting on the ground, it is very heavy,” she explains. “It actually depresses the earth’s crust. After the glacier melts back, the earth will rebound.” Like a trampoline, or waterbed, but at a much slower pace. “So at one time, in Misty Fiords, there was close to 4,000 foot of ice on that site, so the weight of that ice at least pushed down (created) as high as 400 feet of displacement,” Baichtal added. So, in summary, the volcano erupted within the last 13,000 years, after the ice retreated, as the land was slowly bouncing back, and when sea levels were lower. They figured out most of this stuff just from examining the surveys. Volcanoes show up along faults in the earth’s crust, so when the fault moves enough to expose magma, that can lead to a volcanic eruption. Since faults don’t go away, volcanic eruptions in Southeast Alaska are possible in the future. “With the evidence that we have and the geologic age of the things that are there, there is no reason why it couldn’t,” he said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if it did.” But, Karl said people shouldn’t get anxious about it. “We have much better technology for detecting the initiation of one of these sorts of things now,” she said. “I don’t think people need to get too worried.” The newly discovered volcano is very close to New Eddystone Rock, which is what’s left over from another volcano, which may have erupted around the same time frame. They are both near the entrance to Misty Fiords National Monument.

Pavlof has been erupting since last week, forcing some regional flight cancellations. Volcano has released ash plumes as high as 22,000ft. Belching ash and spewing lava, Pavlof Volcano in Alaska has been erupting for ten days - and Nasa today released this remarkable picture of it, taken by crew on board the International Space Station. One of the region's most active volcanoes, its latest eruption has forced regional flight cancellations and dusted some nearby communities with ash.

Pavlof released ash plumes as high as 22,000ft (6,700m) over the weekend, with the cloud blowing eastward and the eruption showing no signs of abating, according to the Alaska Volcano Observatory.

The lava from its 8,261ft (2,518m) peak has also created huge steam clouds on meeting the mountain's snow.

Belching ash and spewing lava, Pavlof Volcano in Alaska has been erupting since May 13 - and Nasa today released this remarkable picture of it, taken by crew on board the International Space Station

While the ash plume was still too low on Monday to affect commercial airliners flying at least 30,000ft above sea level between Asia and North America, it still interfered with schedules for regional carriers serving rural fishing towns and native villages that lack outside road access.

PenAir, an Anchorage-based company specialising in travel in southwestern Alaska, briefly stopped flights to four destinations to wait for ash to dissipate, said Danny Seybert, the carrier's chief executive. 'We've had about a dozen cancellations due to the volcano,' he said. PenAir's planes fly at altitudes between 15,000 and 20,000ft - exactly where they could encounter ash, depending on wind direction, according to Seybert.

Among the cancellations were flights in and out of Unalaska/Dutch Harbor, the top-volume seafood port in the United States, he said.

Pavlof (pictured last week) released ash plumes as high as 22,000ft (6,700m) over the weekend, with the cloud blowing eastward and the eruption showing no signs of abating, according to the Alaska Volcano Observatory

While the ash plume was still too low on Monday to affect commercial airliners flying at least 30,000ft above sea level between Asia and North America, it still interfered with schedules for regional carriers serving rural fishing towns and native villages that lack outside road access

THERE SHE BLOWS: PAVLOF VOLCANO

Pavlof Volcano is one of several dozen volcanoes that make up the Aleutian Arc.

The arc stretches across the Alaskan Peninsula in the south-west of Alaska to north-eastern Siberia, 3,000km away.

It follows the line where the pacific tectonic plate meets the North American plate.

Seybert said for those flying in the region, flight disruptions are part of doing business.

'It's one of the situations that Mother Nature presents itself along our route structure,' he said.

Ace Air Cargo, also based in Anchorage, cancelled two flights and delayed others, but for the most part, its planes are flying around any ash, said Greg Hawthorne, a company official. The airline is closely monitoring developments, he said.

'We're used to those volcanoes going off in that region,' he said. 'But if the winds are wrong, you don't want to test that pumice.'

Trace amounts of ash fell overnight on Nelson Lagoon, a tiny Aleut village of 50 residents located 48 miles (77 km) northeast of Pavlof.

The volcano had earlier sprinkled ash on Sand Point, a fishing town of about 1,000 people, when the wind was blowing in a slightly different direction, according to the observatory.

Ash plumes could go higher, as Pavlof's eruption could intensify with little warning, the Alaska Volcano Observatory said

Along with potential aviation hazards, the ash poses possible health risks, said Rick Wessels, a U.S. Geological Survey geophysicist at the observatory.

'It's dangerous for the people downwind of it, because you don't really want to breathe in that fine ash that long,' Wessels said of the eruption taking place on the Alaska Peninsula, 590 miles (950km) southwest of Anchorage.

Pavlof is one of Alaska's most restless volcanoes and had its last major eruption in 2007. The Alaska Volcano Observatory estimates it has erupted about two dozen times between 1901 and 2007.

During the 29-day eruption six years ago, the volcano emitted mud flows and erupting lava, as well as ash clouds up to 18,000ft high.

Pavlof is one of Alaska's most restless volcanoes and had its last major eruption in 2007. The Alaska Volcano Observatory estimates it has erupted about two dozen times between 1901 and 2007

Recent developments in Syria's civil war show an escalation of involvement from outside countries and groups, with outcomes increasingly difficult to predict. As the fractured rebel groups continue their battles against forces loyal to President Bashar Assad, the European Union recently voted to end an arms embargo, opening the possibility of new weapons shipments to the rebels. The Shia militant group Hezbollah, from neighboring Lebanon, has sent fighters and support into Syria to aid Assad's troops. Russia plans to ship several modern anti-aircraft missile systems to Syria, to deter foreign interference. Israel, meanwhile, is prepared to use force to stop the delivery of such systems, which it views as a threat. Gathered here are recent images from the ongoing conflict, now more than two years old.

A Syrian boy holds an AK-47 assault rifle in the majority-Kurdish Sheikh Maqsud district of the northern Syrian city of Aleppo, on April 14, 2013. In northern Syria, the Kurdish population has largely observed a careful compromise with regime and rebel forces, fighting alongside neither, in return for security and semi-autonomy over majority Kurdish areas, but there have been reports of Kurdish fighters joining the battle with Syrian rebels in certain areas, including in Sheikh Maqsud. (Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP/Getty Images)

It is increasingly obvious that a political settlement in Syria is going to be needed. Were it not for the interference of Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Israel, and the plotting of the NATO powers, such a settlement conference would be underway.

Too many have died and each death benefits only: Turkey, Israel, Saudi Arabia and NATO.

What is broadly recognized is this fact; the rebel forces as they are currently configured, were they to triumph, would lead Syria into a decade of civil war, one where the current body-count, be it 50,000 or 100,000 would seem insignificant.

One might also ask why Israel, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and their friends would back forces closely aligned with terrorism and extremism.

DOMINO EFFECT

There is little doubt that a globalist agenda is behind the war on Syria. This is only a stage in a broader war on Iran, followed by subjugation of Afghanistan (good luck with that) and a forced collapse of Pakistan.

The rationale, of course, involves oil and gas. As the planet has proven to be awash with oil and gas reserves, enough for centuries, particularly if alternative energy technologies continue to be suppressed, only total control of supply, delivery and active and criminal manipulation of market pricing structures can offer an adequate return.

Control of world currencies, the Federal Reserve System in the US, the failed financial system of the European Union and the IMF are required.

The methodologies, each representing an attack on the citizenry of the world, driven by outmoded Malthusianistic principles, are intended to deprive billions of basic human needs and, of course, any human rights as well.

It may all be turned around in Syria if the world finally awakens to the real threat.

In this image taken from video obtained from the Shaam News Network, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, smoke and fire rises after explosives were dropped by a Syrian government warplane in Yabroud near Damascus, Syria, on May 20, 2013. (AP Photo/Shaam News Network via AP video) #

Will the Russian Fleet with it’s S-400 missile defences and the ground based S-300s going into Syria block Israeli pre-emptive attacks, or act as a trip wire for them?

Dear Readers, Since this ran and became the top story on Press TV for a week and a half there has been a complete media blackout on any updates on the Russian ships beginning what was called their permanent return. Normally there would have been aerial shots of them from planes or helicopters and many stories about their armaments and combat abilities, especially for engaging the Israeli Navy, Air Force and missile commands.

Russian Med Fleet Returns – an Unintended Consequence

Russian Navy secret weapon

There was a lot of distraction in the news last week, particularly the flank attack moves on Obama that obscured a huge development in the Mid East… the first return of the Russian Pacific Navy for Mediterranean deployment since 1992.

The first big part of the news is the active word ‘permanent.’ Corporate media decided to ignore the strategic shift consequences of that, and the West may be looking back soon at the wisdom their aggressive regime change military moves, despite the extensive use of proxies.

The recent Israeli attacks on Syria, particularly the use of a nuclear bunker buster gave the Russians a gift from heaven, opening the door to make a defensive deployment to protect their longtime ally in Syria.

The Russians are back in the Med to stay, and this might be a good lesson to the folly of the Western slow motion aggression policy in the region, which has put a match to the whole place. Russian Navy Commander Admiral Viktor Chirkov has announced that a permanent staff was being set up, and the present force might eventually include their nuclear submarines. In speaking to RIA:

“Overall, already from this year, we plan to have five or six warships and support vessels [in the Mediterranean Sea], which will be replaced on a rotating basis from each of the fleets – the Black Sea, Baltic, Northern and, in some cases, even the Pacific Fleet. Depending on the scope of assignments and their complexity, the number of warships in the task force may be increased.”

Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu let the cat out of the bag when he stated that a permanent naval task force was needed to defend Russian interests in the region. The world has watched for two years now how coolly Russia has dealt with the continuing escalations in the fighting there, supported by a growing number of outside states who have effectively declared war on Syria thinking that such was a no-risk deal.

Here is what corporate media has not been telling you all. The preemptive strike doctrine of the Israelis and Neocons is going to be challenged. Netanyahu can talk all he wants to about red lines which will trigger a preemptive ‘defensive’ strike, but yours truly has written in these columns that eventually the intended targets would adopt that policy themselves. They have actually been given permission to by the dummies who invented it.

US Navy sources can sneer at the ‘old’ Russian ships all they want to, but there is nothing old about what they will be carrying, a game changer… their state-of-the-art missiles which they made a top priority in their defense policy as the new missiles are revolutionizing the next generation of warfare.

They will sweep the skies of Israeli planes and the seas of ships. Air forces are working now to deploy robotic war plane drones that are basically missiles themselves by matching their speeds and aerodynamics.

Part of the corporate media hoax has been the fraudulent story of the S-300s being ‘introduced’ to the region as being destabilizing. Anyone wanting to check a copy of Jane’s in 1996 will find them already in Syria.

Maybe some definition game has been going on that if they were under Russian physical control, as American munitions are in many foreign bases, they are not officially Syrian. But I would ask the lazy media what they thought brought down the Turkish F-16 provocations, a waste of those unfortunate pilots in peace time.

Yes folks, the S-300’s have been there all this time, and not fired at Israel yet. But that is all going to change. Israel’s days of roaming freely over Lebanon airspace and their ability to launch air flight munitions without entering Syrian territory may be over, or it will be when the Russians decide to.

Their fleet, even its older ships will be carrying their state-of-the-art weapons like the S-400’s where a pilot only has two or three seconds to live once the ‘beep beep’ that they are locked onto at tremendous speeds. The Russian ships on patrol will be able to shoot any attacking Israeli planes down, including those returning to base post attack. They can even be shot down while taking off.

Russia’s Iskander – game changer for Israel

Any retaliatory strike by Israel would trigger a full response by the Russians that could include their bases and command structure.

Their updated Iskander missiles are stated to have speeds in the Mach 6 to 7 range but our sources say over Mach 8. To evade anti-missile fire they can pull 30+ g turns and make a 90-degree dive onto a target while doing so.

The Israeli bullies have never had to stand up to a modern military but they may get the chance. They won’t like it.

The beauty in all of this is the scenario described above could all be done in a purely defensive mode while resisting an Israeli attack.

After one incident alone the Russians might tell the Israelis that any Israeli warplane leaving Israeli air space would be considered an attack and both the plane and the base it flew from subject to attack.

Oh… I forgot to mention above that the targeting can be done either by satellite or programmed into the missiles so jamming would not be effective. This is not the Gaza Strip mortar shells on a back yard rocket tube, which Israel claims to be such a mortal threat where they have repeatedly launched civilian punishment retaliations as ‘deterrents.’

The dummy Israelis did not realize that they were giving moral permission for the same thing to be done to them someday.

Veterans Today has reported that the US Army Corps of Engineers has been spending huge amounts of money building the Israelis nuclear strike proof command centers.

Iskander – Dual launch system

More American taxpayer money was wasted to protect Israel, which has a huge weapons-of-mass-destruction inventory threatening everyone else.

Under the Bush/NeoCon preemptive strike policy the Russians could have taken these out of ‘potential’ threats, and similarly the Patriot missile batteries.

As for accuracy, the Iskanders can take the Patriot missile batteries out the first day. And the Russians could surrender to the international court the next day on the grounds that their response was totally legal under international law.

And if that did not suffice, their second defense would be the Bush doctrine of preemptive strike for defensive purposes… not to eliminate a future threat, but one that had already signaled its hostile intent.

If any of you are thinking I am hyping this scenario, I held up publishing this until I got confirmation from the Israelis. The headline of the Israel Hayom for May 19th was:

“Expect Israeli strikes on Russian arms shipments to Syria-Hezbollah… US officials tell the Wall Street Journal another round of Israeli air strikes could target a new Russian transfer of Yakhont advanced anti-ship missiles in the near future.”

Israelis have a very aggressive air force

This was nothing morethan laying the ground work for the IDF to continue aggressive strikes in support of the Syrian rebels. Note the automatic linking of Syria and Hezbollah like they share arms depots or the Russians let them give their arms away to others.

Do the Israelis have US permission? Well, kind of. Obama said Israel has the right to defend itself, so that means others have the right, also. But the game is a bit different when someone is in the Med who has full retaliatory ability including nuclear weapons.

Bibi playing tough

Oh, I forgot to mention something about the nuclear bunker buster that the Israelis used in Damascus. The Russians of course have them also, to use on their newer missiles to keep their weight down for higher speed or longer range, and to make sure one missile does the job.

May 31, 2013 – ISRAEL - Netanyahu tells European foreign ministers that if the Russian missile systems get into Syria, Israel’s ‘entire airspace will become a no-fly zone’ and therefore it ‘cannot stand idly by.’ Israel’s National Security Adviser Yaakov Amidror sketched out what Jerusalem’s ‘red line’ is vis-à-vis the S-300 missile systems Russia intends to send to Syria before the 27 European Union ambassadors in Israel. Two diplomats who were in the room during the briefing last Thursday, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the meeting was a closed event, said that Amidror stressed Israel will act ‘to prevent the S-300 missiles from becoming operational’ on Syrian soil. This message was also conveyed by Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon when he said on Tuesdaythat if the missiles reach Syria ‘Israel will know what to do.’ Amidror’s briefing, the diplomats said, made it clear that Israel estimates that sooner or later Russia will provide Syria with the missile systems and for reasons unrelated to Israel – namely Russian rivalry with the U.S., Britain and France on the Syrian issue. ‘We understood from Amidror that the Israeli government thinks the missile transfer cannot be prevented, therefore it will act against them after the transfer but before they become operational,’ one of the diplomats said. Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad has confessed in an interview to AL-Manar TV Lebanon that the government has received the first batch of Russia-made long-range surface-to-air missiles, Israeli media report. Assad added the next shipment of advanced S-300 missile systems was coming in shortly. Al-Manar is expected to publish the complete interview later today. Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov previously told journalists he wasn’t in a position to either confirm or deny the reports that claim the first S-300 missiles had already reached Syria. He added however Russia was indeed planning to supply Damascus with its missile systems. Mr. Ryabkov said he realized this news came as a wakeup call for Russia’s global partners, but underscored Moscow was not going to revise its stance. Moscow hopes US, EU will ‘rein in’ opposition Syria National Coalition – Foreign Minister Lavrov. Moscow hopes that the US and EU will be able to “rein in” opposition’s National Syrian Coalition, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said. Moscow hopes that the US and EU will be able to “rein in” opposition’s National Syrian Coalition, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said. He condemned the opposition forces for urging a regime change in Syria, a call that can abort the planned Geneva peace conference. Mr. Lavrov said he hoped Americans and Europeans would show some common sense and restrain the most aggressive of opposition elements. He also criticized those who were trying to present the NSC as the sole force capable of speaking out on Syria’s behalf. Israel is looking into reports on Thursday that Syria had received the first shipment of the advanced Russian air defense system S-300, an Israeli official said. “I have no information beyond what has been reported, which we are looking into,” the official told Reuters on condition of anonymity, after a Lebanese newspaper quoted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad as saying a shipment had arrived. Israel, which has made veiled threats to prevent S-300 missiles from becoming operational in Syria, has lobbied the Russians against the sale and said on Tuesday that shipments had not yet been made. Israel’s airspace would be within range of the system if it is deployed in Syria, a northern neighbor. Russian deliveries of S-300 defensive surface-to-air missile systems to Damascus could help prevent any possible intervention by external forces in the Syrian conflict, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said at a press conference in Moscow. “In our opinion, these deliveries play a stabilizing role. We believe that such steps will largely help stop certain hotheads from turning it into a possible international conflict, from considering a scenario that would make this conflict international with the involvement of external forces that are not averse to such ideas,” he said. “We are speaking about deliveries of defensive weapons to the government of this country with the aim of protecting facilities and contingents of soldiers,” Ryabkov said.

The US would be in enough trouble for having put the region in such danger by arming Israel to the teeth to a level its own population could never have afforded, nor would they if they could have.

When Israel suffers a substantial retaliatory strike after an aggressive attack on their part, I can promise you the average Israeli is going to have an instant different opinion of the bully buzz they have grown used to when attacking weak or defenseless opponents.

In the long run more than a few international civilian and military Intel entities have long suspected that this is what eventually would have to happen to remove Israel as a threat to everybody. They would attack the wrong people at the wrong time.

Nobody in the American military is going to willingly die for bully Israel other than maybe the Christian Zios in the Air Force. But that said, the world would be a safer place with them gone anyway.

An improvised mortar, with a projectile fashioned from a gas cylinder, placed by Free Syrian Army fighters in Binnish, in Idlib province, on April 17, 2013. (Reuters/Mohamed Kaddoor/Shaam News Network) #

A Free Syrian Army fighter in a tunnel in Deir al-Zor, on April 6, 2013. The 30-meter (98-feet) tunnel was dug under an area where Syrian Army forces have set up base in Deir Al-Zor, according to members of the Free Syrian Army. (Reuters/Khalil Ashawi) #

This March 1, 2013 citizen journalism image provided by Aleppo Media Center AMC which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, shows a Syrian child, injured by heavy bombing from military warplanes, in the town of Hanano in Aleppo, Syria.(AP Photo/Aleppo Media Center) #

A Syrian soldier sits inside a tank as troops take control of the village of Western Dumayna, some seven kilometers north of the rebel-held city of Qusayr, on May 13, 2013. Syrian troops captured three villages in the strategic Qusayr area of Homs province, allowing them to cut supply lines to rebels inside Qusayr town, a military officer told AFP. (Joseph Eid/AFP/Getty Images) #

Syrian troops celebrate as they take control of the village of Haydariyah, some seven kilometers outside the rebel-held city of Qusayr, on May 13, 2013. Syrian troops captured three villages in the strategic Qusayr area of Homs province, allowing them to cut supply lines to rebels inside Qusayr town, a military officer told AFP. (Joseph Eid/AFP/Getty Images) #

Citizen journalism image provided by Aleppo Media Center AMC which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, show flames rising from a car which was attacked by Syrian government forces, in Bustan al-Qaser neighborhood, Aleppo, on May 20, 2013. Fierce street fighting in the Syrian town near the Lebanese border killed at least 28 elite members of Lebanon's militant Hezbollah group, activists said, as Syrian government forces pushed deeper into the strategic, opposition-held town.(AP Photo/Aleppo Media Center) #

Sawoushka Ahmed, a Kurdish female fighter stands with a gun in the majority-Kurdish Sheikh Maqsud district of the northern Syrian city of Aleppo, on April 14, 2013. (Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP/Getty Images) #

In this citizen journalism image released on May 2, 2013 by a group that calls itself The Syrian Revolution Against Bashar Assad, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, a Syrian man, center, identifies dead bodies, who were killed according to activists by Syrian forces loyal to Bashar Assad, in Bayda village, in the mountains outside the coastal city of Banias, Syria.(AP Photo/The Syrian Revolution Against Bashar Assad) #

An abandoned tank on a street near the minaret of the Omari mosque, which was damaged by what activists said was shelling by forces loyal to Bashar al-Assad, in Deraa, on April 13, 2013. (Reuters/Mazen Abu Mahmoud/Shaam News Network) #

A man works at a makeshift oil refinery site in al-Mansoura village in Raqqa's countryside, on May 5, 2013. Many civilians in the village who lost their jobs due to the Syrian conflict are making a living by refining crude oil to extract useful fuel such as gasoline and kerosene for sale. (Reuters/Hamid Khatib) #

Mohammad, 11, a Syrian refugee boy who was injured during the conflict in Syria, sits in his wheelchair at a post-traumatic care center directed by Union of Syrian Medical Relief Organizations (UOSSM) in Hatay province, Turkey, on May 3, 2013. Turkey is now sheltering more than 300,000 Syrians who have fled the fighting in their homeland, most of them in camps along the 900-km (560-mile) frontier.(Reuters/Osman Orsal) #

In this undated file photo a Russian S-300 anti-aircraft missile system is on display in an undisclosed location in Russia. Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on May 28, 2013, that Moscow has a contract for the delivery of the S-300s to Syria and sees the deal as a key deterrent against foreign invasion in that country. The Deputy Foreign Minister wouldn't say whether Russia has shipped any of the long-range S-300 air defense missile systems, but added that Moscow is not going to abandon the deal despite strong Western and Israeli criticism. (AP Photo) #

In this Tuesday March 19, 2013 file photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, a Syrian victim who suffered an alleged chemical attack at Khan al-Assal village according to SANA, receives treatment by doctors, at a hospital in Aleppo. The purported instances in which chemical weapons have been used in Syria have been relatively small in scale: nothing along the lines of Saddam Hussein's 1988 attack in Kurdish Iraq. That raises the question of who would stand to gain as President Bashar Assad's regime and the opposition trade blame for the alleged attacks and definitive proof remains elusive. (AP Photo/SANA) #

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Gen. Gregorio del Pilar, P.A.

From morning till noon he repelled charge after charge he held on tenaciously with a handful of men through the heat and agony of battle till he himself fell dead among his slained soldiers. It was on this mountain summit overlooking the plains and the shores of his country a massive tremendous altar.....